What kind of courage does it take to become the only female photojournalist in the Gaza Strip? TED Fellow Eman Mohammed was only 19 when she began shooting photos for a local news agency—and then the Gaza War broke out. Her talks reveal how she overcame cultural bias, sexual abuse, and physical danger to become one of the most powerful journalistic voices documenting the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Capturing the essence of war-torn regions for The Guardian, The Washington Post, CNN, and organizations like UNESCO, Mohammed has expanded her scope to include other Middle Eastern countries. One of her latest projects, iWar, is about the long-term aftermath of survivors and victims of war. It’s a series of portraits shot over the course of a few days with each family or person, intended to be a natural and authentic representation of the pain and sadness violence can leave behind.

Mohammed’s work has been exhibited in New York, Montreal, Dublin, and The Hague. In 2013, the British Museum of London acquired some of Mohammed’s work. She was named a 2014 TED Fellow and gave a talk at TED in Vancouver.

Speech Topics

Gender & Sexuality

Breaking Taboos and Documenting DevastationA Woman’s Journey

As the first female photojournalist in Gaza, Eman Mohammed confronted scorn from her male coworkers while dodging bombs. Undeterred, she has fought to bring attention to the conflict of the area, and especially the stories of other Palestinian women. A deeply powerful personal story, Mohammed talks about a nomadic childhood with her single mother, her start as a teenage journalist, and now her career moving forward as an internationally recognized photographer and storyteller.